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Shares lower as investors ignore jobs data

Australian stocks finished slightly weaker today, led by weaknesss in the banking sector after investors ignored surprisingly strong jobs data and worried that the central bank may not have done enough to shore up the domestic economy.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 11.1 points, or 0.25 per cent, lower at 4,509.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 12.3 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 4,515.7.On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was 13 points lower at 4,512, with 22,534 contracts traded.

Australian employment outstripped expectations for a second month in November and the jobless rate surprised everyone with a drop to 5.2 per cent, an encouraging report that could lessen the urgency for more rate cuts.

IG Markets analyst Chris Weston said the local market had been weak before the jobs figures.

‘‘It hasn’t really changed the landscape at all,’’ he said.

‘‘We’ve seen a pretty weak market. Wall Street didn’t provide us with much of a backbone to go on.’’

But he said there were some positive signs in the US with President Barack Obama saying a resolution to the world’s biggest economy’s economic woes could be found within a week.

The European Central Bank (ECB) could also downgrade its guidance.

Locally, some defensives were weak with telecommunications giant Telstra dropping 0.2 per cent while supermarket giant Woolworths lost 0.4 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its main cash rate to 3.0 per cent at its monthly policy meeting on Tuesday, equalling the low hit during the global financial crisis.

Yesterday, the country reported that the economy grew 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, the slowest pace in a year-and-a-half.

"The broader issue is that people have been mulling over whether the RBA has done enough to help the banks and to help the domestic economy," said Damien Boey, equity strategist at Credit Suisse.

NAB fell six cents to $24.25.The big miners were stronger, with BHP up 12 cents at $34.41 and Rio Tinto 57 cents higher at $59.92.

Meanwhile, shares in troubled broadcaster Ten Network remain in a trading halt as it announced an extra $35 million in cost cuts and a $230 million capital raising venture in response to its recent poor performance.